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It's not true that nobody walks in L.A., but our city's streets are less walkable than a dozen others around the nation, according to the recently-released Walkscore ranking. Los Angeles comes in at #13 (Long Beach gets #11) on their list.
When it comes to neighborhoods within L.A., those get ranked too.On the list in the top six slots are Downtown, Koreatown, Mid-City West, Pico-Union, Chinatown, and Hollywood all of which had "scores" for walkability between 87 and 92. L.A. overall scored a mere 66. The scores are calculated using an algorithm that "measures the walkability of individual addresses based on proximity to nearby amenities," and location and population data from the 2010 Census.
In 2008, the last time Walk Score put together national rankings, Los Angeles was at least in the top ten, coming in 9th (and again behind Long Beach, at 8th). This time around, NYC is #1 (shoving previous #1 San Francisco into the #2 spot), and Miami, Minneapolis, and Oakland have stepped in, with Portland, Oregon standing in between us and Long Beach.
Why does "walkability" matter? The Walkscore folks say it's part of having good health, strong sense of community, higher property values, and it's good for the environment. How walkable is your 'hood, starting from your home? Use the Walkscore calculator to find out. (Woohoo, we scored an 86 here in NoHo!)
